


Inner Beauty : Echo

by Woongie



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Based on a Vocaloid Song, Horror, I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, Monster in the Mirror, Not Everyone is Beautiful on the Inside, Reflection, That show your true self, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26653852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woongie/pseuds/Woongie
Summary: Not everyone is pretty on the inside, and Hwanwoong knew that. Yet, he didn't know just how horrendous he would look on the inside.
Kudos: 5





	Inner Beauty : Echo

Whenever Hwanwoong looked into the mirror, he always saw himself; yet, it was inevitably some variation of himself. It varied from a slightly different appearance to a complete aberration. Not once was it ever the same. On certain days, Hwanwoong nearly hurled from the abomination reflected at him.

After Hwanwoong started avoiding mirrors and other glossy surfaces, his reflection began to haunt him during practice. Usually, Hwanwoong would love being in the practice room, but since the room practically had four mirrors, Hwanwoong didn’t feel the comfort he once felt. And as time dragged by, as frustration and anxiety began to build within Hwanwoong, little by little, Hwanwoong could see the black shadow forming in the mirror.

“Hwanwoongie, you okay? You seem out of it lately,” Youngjo fretted, pushing some of the hair off of Hwanwoong’s forehead.

“Sorry. I think it’s because I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” Hwanwoong confessed, leaning into the older’s palm. The contact felt comforting. It helped distract him from the monster looming on the other side of the glass. The only time he didn’t have to focus on his reflection was when he was with his members. They were the curtains that hid the creature dwelling deep inside his heart.

The sun had nearly risen when they returned to their dorm after practice. Once inside, each member left to do their own thing, leaving Hwanwoong alone with himself. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as his shadow came to life behind him.

Hiding in the bathroom was the worst thing Hwanwoong could’ve done because of the mirror hanging above the sink. And this time was no different from the others. Slowly, his image began to distort itself. Out of all the times Hwanwoong had seen his reflection, this was probably the worst it had ever been. Its body was melting, yet its mutilated figure stayed the same; its eye sockets were gaping holes, and its mouth was upturned in a hideous grin. The entity swapped from being pitch black to all-white in random increments.

Hwanwoong backed up against the wall as the creature glitched through the mirror and appeared in front of him. The grotesque figure staggered in front of the sink, its movement unsteady, almost like a baby fawn walking for the first time. The thing didn’t have eyes, but it reared its ugly head directly at Hwanwoong. Contrary to what it looked like, there was no malodorous scent.

“What exactly are you?” Hwanwoong asked, his voice trembling. It was pretty rhetorical since he knew what it was, but the question slipped out nonetheless. Perhaps, deep down, he wanted confirmation that this was, in fact, him.

At first, the monster didn’t respond, but its giant maw opened and closed as it tried to form words. Thousands of serrated teeth lined its mouth each time it opened. 

“I… You.” Its voice shook the walls, creating a miniature earthquake in the bathroom. Cosmetics clattered to the floor, their glass containers clinking loudly against the tiled floor. The monster stretched upwards to the point where its head strained sideways against the ceiling. Black goo dripped from its body, pooling to the ground in rivulets. 

Hwanwoong turned to run, but a clawed hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back. He could see the hand phasing in and out of existence from where it wrapped around his neck. When Hwanwoong came face to face with the mirror, nothing was staring back. It was empty except for the scenery.

The next thing Hwanwoong knew, the mirror was mere inches from his face. His hands flailed out in front of him, ready to stop himself from smacking face-first into the glass, but instead of stopping, he went right through. A yell escaped his lips as he landed on the other side. Except for the towering glass wall in front of him, everything was dark and empty. That never-ending smile haunted him from reality, and the lonely boy trapped in the mirror could do nothing but watch as his inner demon took his place as Yeo Hwanwoong.


End file.
